How Adding 15 More Umpires Would Solve Baseball's Replay Crisis

Major League
Baseball's instant replay system is flawed. But there's a
simple solution that could appease everybody and bring the game
into the 21st century.

MLB needs to add one umpire to every crew. The five umpires in
the crew could rotate with home plate umpire from the previous
game sitting in a booth monitoring replays.

It is a simple solution and there are several reasons why it is
infinitely better than the current system.

Speeds up the process:

The current system used by Major League Baseball is horrific. The
umpires huddle on the field to decide if they will look at a
replay. Three umpires then have to jog off the field into a room
where they may not
even have the same replays available to them as the fans have
at home.

It is a painfully slow process that doesn't need to be. With an
umpire up in a booth, he can be looking at all available replays
even before the umps on the field decide to use them. The umps
can then communicate directly with the booth, make a quick
decision, and get the game going again.

The umpires will approve the move:

Umpires hate instant replay because they don't want to be
second-guessed, and they don't want to feel like a video is doing
their job. They also don't want the job of making calls on the
field put in the hands of somebody that is not an umpire.

With this system, not only are the calls still being made by the
crew, but the umpires' union gets to add 15 more jobs.

In addition, the umpires would get a game off the field after
having to work behind home plate, a job that is far more grueling
than most fans understand.

Ultimately, the biggest problem is that MLB, as they always do,
tried too hard to make everybody happy and ended up with a system
that nobody likes. And until baseball stops trying to cater to
the delicate sensibilities of the traditionalist fans, it will
continue to remain in the dark ages.